Ross Rebounds In Grand Fashion

TORONTO — A day after standing at his locker and explaining how a ball got through his legs and led to a Marlins loss, center fielder Cody Ross once again had to answer for his performance.

This time, the questions put to him dealt with hitting a 0-2 breaking ball over the center-field wall at Rogers Centre for his third grand slam of the season.

Ross' bash off Brandon League keyed a five-run eighth to break a tie game and propel the Marlins to a 7-3 interleague win Friday night over the Blue Jays. Ross, who also hit grand slams on May 17 and June 2, joined Bobby Bonilla (1997) and Jeff Conine (2004) as the only Marlins to hit three in a season.

"My first big-league home run was a grand slam," Ross said. "He threw me a really good first-pitch fastball down and away for a strike. Then he threw me, I don't know if it's a split or a changeup, and I swung at it. I was, 'Wow, I really have to bear down right here and battle.' I think he was trying to throw the same pitch again and he hung it a little bit."

Rookie Chris Coghlan was a big contributor Friday as well as he became the third Marlin to have a four-hit game this season, joining Emilio Bonifacio and Hanley Ramirez, who drove in three for his fifth multi-RBI effort.

Starter Ricky Nolasco just missed benefiting from the run support. He was a strike away on No. 9 hitter Joe Inglett from keeping his shutout intact through five innings. Instead, Inglett lined a 2-2 pitch the opposite way to left for an RBI single as part of a two-run inning.

"He did a good job of fighting off some tough pitches until one ran back over the plate," said Nolasco, who struck out a season-high nine.

Though Nolasco struck out the side, he needed 32 pitches to get through the fifth. Long innings have been a problem all season for Nolasco.

He's thrown 20 or more pitches in 19 of 57 innings started (33.3 percent). Compare that to last season, when he totaled 20-plus in just 33 of 216 innings started (15.3 percent), according to Baseball Info Solutions.

He retired the side in order in the sixth before departing.

Nolasco threw just 60 percent of 110 pitches for strikes, due in part to home plate umpire Mike Winters missing a few.

For the second straight outing, Nolasco went head-to-head with a Cy Young Award winner. After facing Tim Lincecum in his first start back from the minors, Nolasco drew Roy Halladay, but the matchup fizzled as Halladay exited in the fourth with a right groin strain.

"I'm not worried about who's pitching over there," Nolasco said. "I have to worry about myself right now and just try to be the guy I know I can be."